


Let Them Dance

by MayLovelies



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Regret, Romance, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 12:58:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12276945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayLovelies/pseuds/MayLovelies
Summary: Nearly a year ago, Eli resigned from the Empire due to the lack of promotions and respect—in addition to his whole career path being uprooted by Thrawn. Believing he made the right choice, Eli is happy and comfortable in his new life. However, his life is abruptly halted when he learns of Thrawn’s recent capture and torture by the Empire under charges of treason. Now again, it’s up to Eli to stand by Thrawn’s side, even if his own life is at risk.OrAfter much time away from the Empire, Eli returns when he’s needed to break Thrawn out of prison.





	Let Them Dance

**Author's Note:**

> So me and a friend have been discussing this fic for a while. I've finally gotten the time to write/publish it.

_Eli saw the puzzlement in Thrawn’s eyes when he handed this Chiss the thick stack of papers, in addition to his Ensign plaque.  “Resignation…” Thrawn spoke, sounding more confused than Eli had ever heard. “You are resigning from the Imperial Navy?” Thrawn looked Eli in the eye, a now unreadable expression upon his face._

_Eli paused for a while, attempting to find the courage to continue but slightly faltering as Thrawn did not recline his gaze. Something about those red eyes focusing on him now seemed almost menacing. But Eli had to do this—if he didn’t speak up now, if he didn’t make this decision for himself, it would all be for nothing._

_“I am resigning from the Empire in whole, sir.” Eli stated, holding his ground._

_Thrawn’s façade began to falter and his eyes began to shift, first at the papers and then back at Eli. So many questions lingered on the tip of his tongue, yet all he could muster was, “Is there a reason, as to why you have come to make this decision?”_

_“My reason is my own.” Eli responded, his voice impassive and his expression hopefully unreadable._

OOoOoOoOoOoO

It was Eli’s wretched alarm clock that woke him that morning and like he did every morning, he attempted to ignore the damned thing.  Yet when the blaring became to loud, and a headache began to form, Eli yawned and beckoned himself out of bed.  It was a Saturday, meaning no work for Eli still, he liked to keep a schedule. Waking up early on the weekends assured that he could get his grocery shopping done in time to get back home before nightfall.

Eli, half awake trailed his way to the bathroom where he was quick to shower and then freshened up for the day.  After that he headed downstairs to make himself something to eat.

As routine had it, he made himself a small breakfast before he found his data pad to review his shopping list.  _Eggs, Milk, Butter…_ He repeated in his head over again until the list was almost engrained in his mind, after that, he headed toward his speeder and was out.

He had resigned from the Empire almost a year ago and since then, things had been going better for him. His decision didn’t sit well with his parents at first, but after explaining countless times _why_ he left the Empire they understood. They too realized just how unfairly their hardworking son had been treated, and it was nice for a change to see him taking control of his own life.

The higher ups in the Empire weren’t very concerned of his resignation, which Eli wasn’t surprised at. To them he was pretty useless, he always was. He didn’t have the brains or skill sets that they wanted to make the Empire successful. Back then, coming to terms with that hurt but now, he had no trouble admitting it.

Explaining his resignation to Thrawn was bitter, and to be fair, Eli hadn’t explained it all that much. He gave him the papers, and gave a poor reasoning at best. He didn’t feel the need to explain anything to Thrawn , after all, Thrawn would do _fine_ without him. He had Yularen, he even had that Arihnda Pryce…he didn’t need Eli, he never did.  This revelation gave Eli resolve because now he was free, _finally_ free.

When he had made it to the local store in his small, rural community  his commlink began to chirp. Sighing, he reached in his pocket and answered.

“Hello?”

 _“Hello Eli!”_ The voice of one of his many cousins sang through the microphone. Unlike most though, her voice was heavily accented from that of a person born and raised in Coruscant.

“Hello May!” He responded , browsing through the store isles. “What’s up?”

“ _I may be a little late coming over for dinner tonight—my speeder is having some trouble.”_

 _Dinner?_ Eli thought, confused slightly but quickly remembering that they’d made plans to eat together a couple of days ago. “Ahh . I hope it’s not serious. Do you want me to come over and look at it?”

 _“No! I should be able to fix it on my own!”_ May replied.

“Alright then. Call me when you’re on your way. I’ll see you tonight.” After the call ended, Eli placed the device back into his pocket and continued shopping. It wasn’t that long before he finished, heading to his speeder with groceries in hand.  

Since leaving the Empire, things had not only gotten better with Eli’s parents but the rest of his family as well. There was an unspoken tension that seemed to completely dissipate after Eli had cut ties with Thrawn and the Empire, and for that he was glad.  Eli was in every sense of the word, _happy._  Things felt right now, he had a job, a nice house and life was treating him well.  

He had hoped that things would stay this way however, with his rotten luck, he knew anything could happen. Still , he never dwelt upon the possibilities.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It was almost an hour before May was expected to show up for dinner,  but Eli knew she’s be late. He had his commlink position on the dining table as he got dinner ready. He wasn’t expecting a call from her any time soon, but he had hoped that her speeder was in good condition.

Not pondering on it too much, Eli continued to prepare the meal. He had mentally cautioned himself , making sure not to go overboard like last time. With the food that Eli had cooked in combination with what his cousin had brought over, there was enough food to feed him for days, almost weeks. Only problem was that he was just one person—there was no way he could finish it all by himself.

It didn’t take long for Eli to size down on his options and eventually bring his food to a simmer. Taking a large whiff of his meal, Eli smiled, pleased with himself. Everything was done, and all the food was prepared. Now he could rest, and wait until his cousin called.

Peeling himself away from the stove and looking out of the living room window, Eli noticed that the sun began to set.  The natural light in the house began to dim as the sun vanished. Eli stood in his same spot as it grew out of sight. He now focused on the vast mixture of warm and cold colors left in its wake, observing how they contrasted with one another until sooner or later they too would vanish and be replaced with night’s sky.

He smiled at the beautiful scene before him, as he did most days. He’d seen the sunset over and over again and still, it never got old. He never grew bored of it in fact, it was something he had grown to appreciate over the months of returning home.

In the midst of his solitude, his commlink began to sound from the table.

Rolling his eyes as he was slightly annoyed at the disturbance, he turned around and headed toward his device.

 _Must be May._ He thought to himself , taking the commlink and answering. “Hey May, are you on your way?”

“ _Try again, Eli Vanto.”_ The voice, certainly female and with an accent similar to his cousin spoke, however this was _not_ his cousin at all. The voice was deeper, colder and held a hint of disdain. As if humbling herself to call someone as irrelevant and unimportant as Eli physically hurt her.  The voice almost instantly registered in Eli’s mind as it took him every bit of strength _not_ to drop his commlink on the floor.

 _“Are you there? Are you listening?”_ The ice cold voice said again, her tone growing impatient.

Eli took a deep breath, ignoring the knot in his throat and opening his now dry mouth to speak. “Yes, Governor Pryce—I’m here.” His eyes narrowed as he continued. “What can I do for you?” He forced , politely.

_“Good to hear from you again, Mr. Vanto.”_

“I’m honored to hear from you as well, Governor. Now again, may I ask what you need from me?”

Pryce detected the change in his voice, as Eli heard a chuckle from the other end. She then continued. _“I hesitated reaching out to you, only because I believed you to be weak after you sudden resignation from the Empire, but I know you have your reasons, we all do. However, that is not the point of my call.”_

She paused for a while just to make sure Eli was still there.

“Get to the point.” He spat, no longer trying to hold back his anger. He hadn’t left the Empire just to have an Imperial contact him and disrespect him all the way out in Wild Space. It took him even more strength not to hang up in her face. “I don’t have all day.”

 _“Good. Neither do I. So let’s get to it.”_ She took a deep breath and sighed. _“You must remember your old friend, Thrawn, correct?”_

A twinge of guilt swept over him at the mention of “friend”, but he was able to push it away quickly. “He wasn’t my friend, and what about him?”

 _“I thought you’d say something like that.”_ She responded dryly. _“Anyway you must be thinking things went well for him after you left—that he climbed the ranks of the military and is now an established officer in the Navy.”_

“He has friends in high places, so why not?” Eli responded, attempting to hide his sudden anxiety. By now his heart was pounding and his legs nearly gave way underneath him. Sometime during the call, he found himself sitting on the sofa as he could not longer find the strength to stand. “He didn’t need me to succeed.”

_“As true as both statements might be, the opposite has happened.”_

“He’s been demoted?”

“ _Worse.”_ Pryce said angrily.

“What’s worse than demotion?” Eli of course speculated that he’d gotten kicked out of the Navy, but the governor’s tone said otherwise.

_“Imprisonment Mr. Vanto. Imprisonment is worse than demotion. And not before extensive and brutal torture and the looming sentence of execution for treason. That Mr. Vanto, is worse than demotion.”_

Things grew silent for a while, extremely silent.

Eli didn’t know what to do or say. All he did was sat there, conflicted and confused. How did this happen? And why was Pryce contacting him—how did she know?

 _“I’m going to be blunt Mr. Vanto so listen closely.”_ Her voice broke through Eli’s thoughts, prompting him to straighten up.

“What do you need?” Eli responded, though a part of him already knew the answer.

_“Thrawn is being held and tortured on charges of treason. That is all I know for now. I have called you to ask a favor. If you have not guessed by now, I am in need of your help—”_

“You want me to break Thrawn out of prison, don’t you?” Eli said dryly, though is mind was still in turmoil. “Why?”

_“For personal reasons.” Pryce began. “There is more in it for me then just breaking Thrawn out of prison. However, I will not go over any more details until I have your word that you will aid me.”_

Eli paused for a while, still aghast at this whole situation.

He couldn’t help Pryce break Thrawn out of prison, that was outrageous! Thrawn wasn’t his problem, tortured or not. Eli left the Empire because of Thrawn, why would he go back to save him? He resented him, Thrawn ruined his life! Half of him thought Thrawn deserved this, but the other half…the _kinder_ half, thought better.   _Hang up the commlink!_ Eli thought to himself, his heart racing. _This isn’t your problem! Thrawn isn’t your problem._

 _“Mr. Vanto, I need your answer!”_ Pryce almost yelled. _“Are you going to be of use or not?”_

 _No._ Eli told himself. This wasn’t his problem. He was happy, was he not? Far way from the Empire and from Thrawn. This was his life!

“Yes.” Eli spoke, half thinking, half not. “You…you have my support. I will do what I can.”

 _“Good.”_ Pryce spoke coldly. _“I have to go now. I will contact you tomorrow morning. Be ready to move out on my command. Good bye Eli Vanto.”_ And with that, she was gone. Eli sat there, dropping the commlink finally. He took a deep breath and leaned back into the sofa.

Just as he closed his eyes, he realized that his food was burning.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So yay! Second Thranto fic, I'm going to post more soon lol. Hope you enjoy! If you do, please comment. And I was always interested in a scenario where Eli was so angry and fed up he couldn't take the Empire anymore. There's no doubt some animosity would be pointed toward Thrawn. So this is one of the many ways I think it would go down.


End file.
